What Are the Top Issues Facing Uber Drivers in 2017? (My response to Jeff)

Last week, Uber’s President of Ridesharing, Jeff Jones, sent out an important update to Uber drivers across the country. Uber has professed that 2017 will be ‘the year of the driver’ and Jones was hired five months ago to spearhead those efforts.

According to Jones’ letter, he’s been spending time listening to drivers, answering customer support questions and helping drivers at Greenlight Hubs. When I first read the letter, my initial impression was ‘so what?’. I’ve heard this spiel from Uber before, and nothing Jones said in his letter is news to me or drivers in general. What was even more worrisome, though, was what he didn’t bring up in his letter.

So let’s take a look at Jeff’s letter and see what he missed. The quoted sections below are from Jeff’s letter to drivers:

Better Support

When things don’t go as planned, we want to get your questions answered as quickly as possible. I’ve continued to drive myself, and I know that our support can sometimes seem like a brick wall. We have a long way to go, but we’re making progress. We’re improving the training of our support agents to get rid of canned and irrelevant emails, and we’re revamping our network of Greenlight Hubs to provide tailored, in-person support that meets your needs.

Although Uber’s virtual support is a nightmare, it hasn’t improved much in the past three years either. The experience is literally the same as it was when I first started, and one of the most popular articles on my site is still all about the top ways to contact Uber.

To be fair, customer support is a tough competency to handle and most businesses do this poorly. But even if the agents aren’t well-trained, there’s no excuse for not having real time help where drivers can at least attempt to get their issues resolved. I can’t tell you how many new drivers are shocked to find out that Uber has no phone number you can call and the only way to get in contact with them is through the help tab of the driver app.

One bright spot has been the addition of Greenlight Hubs since these stations are typically manned by more knowledgeable Uber employees. I usually recommend drivers go see Uber in person for the more complex problems since those are nearly impossible to get resolved over e-mail.

Clearer Communication

I’m also very focused on making sure the way we communicate with you is always helpful and clear. As a first step, that means communicating less: no more bombarding you with aggressive text messages or confusing emails. Last month, we reduced the number of messages sent by 30%—and we want every message to be more relevant, easier to understand and more respectful in its tone.

I think clear and concise communication is important, but it’s nowhere near the top of my list. And while a 30% reduction in the number of messages sent to drivers might get you a pat on the back during a board meeting, it doesn’t do much for drivers.

An Improved Driver App

Our tech teams have been working hard to improve the app by eliminating bugs and adding new features. The Driver Destinations feature, where you can set your destination twice a day, is used so often that it accounts for 5% of all the Uber trips in the world! And our Instant Pay option continues to be super popular, with drivers cashing out more than $45 million instantly every week. More is coming soon: we have been improving our in-app navigation and will continue to introduce more changes based on what we are hearing from you.

I think the Uber driver app is actually pretty reliable. Of course, there are a few things I’d like to see improved, but most of the problems I hear about with the driver app could potentially be solved by better customer service. It’s rare that the Uber app crashes so more often than not, it’s a you issue – a phone line would enable drivers to call in and troubleshoot these issues. There’s nothing worse than having your phone crash when you’re trying to accept a ride and, if you’re the only driver experiencing the problem, it’d be good to know that since then you would know it’s a problem with your phone, for example.

I’m glad Jeff brought up Driver Destinations and Instant Pay because those two features have a clear value proposition for drivers: they make us more money and get us our money faster! Drivers could care less about new features like compliments but features like Driver Destinations can have a big impact on a driver’s bottom line.

Here are some more features that would make drivers more money. I really think this is the biggest area of opportunity for Uber since the destination feature is an example of something that is a win-win for all parties.

Earnings

This is a topic important to everyone, but without one simple answer. With hundreds of thousands of drivers in the US, each person has a point of view on this topic! What everyone has in common is wanting to reliably stay busy when they choose to drive. That’s why we’re doing more to attract riders with new offers and expanded marketing campaigns. We’re also working to make sure you have a clear understanding of how much you’re actually taking home. We’re starting with a redesign of the Earnings tab in the driver app to make it easier to understand how your pay is calculated.

I literally lol’d when I read this part: “With hundreds of thousands of drivers in the US, each person has a point of view on this topic”. Actually, I’m pretty sure we all have the same point of view on this topic: we want more money.

I think it’s human nature to always want more or think that you should earn more money but it seems like more money is the top complaint I hear from drivers and almost all of the top articles on the blog have to do with making more money as a driver. Earnings should have been the first thing mentioned in this letter and not the last.

Jeff does bring up a good point about drivers staying busy though. Along the lines of earning more, it often feels like there are just too many drivers on the road. But I don’t think the problem is marketing to get more passengers – it’s figuring out a way to limit the number of drivers so that it’s more in line with demand.

One of the biggest criticisms I hear is that referring new drivers is saturating the driver pool and making it tougher for existing drivers to make money. Whether that’s actually the case or not, the optics are bad. Drivers are out there working hard to make $15/hour, yet new drivers are being enticed with $500 sign-up bonuses. If you’re an existing driver, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “why doesn’t Uber just pay us more so we don’t quit and then they won’t need more new drivers?”

Tipping (Shhh)

One glaring omission from Jones’ letter was the word tipping. If Jeff really spent the past five months talking to drivers, I’m convinced he would have heard tipping brought up many many times. Uber drivers are reporting earnings around $15.68 per hour before expenses. If most drivers are in the $10-$12/hr range after paying for things like gas, depreciation, maintenance and taxes, even a $1 or $2 tip could be a huge boon to their bottom line. And the nice thing about a tipping option is that it really is a compromise for drivers and Uber.

Here’s the most liked comment on Jeff Jones’ Facebook post.

Even though drivers would love higher rates, that would really clash with many of Uber’s longer term business initiatives and strategies. But doesn’t adding a tipping option seem like the perfect compromise? Uber can effectively pay drivers more while keeping prices low for the riders who don’t want to tip and they’d build a ton of good will with drivers.

What About UberPool?

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that drivers want to make more money, but I was disheartened to see no mention of UberPOOL in Jeff’s letter. UberPOOL isn’t even live in every city yet, but 56.5% of the 1,100 drivers we surveyed in January were not happy with their UberPOOL experience.

And in primary UberPOOL markets like Los Angeles and San Francisco, the percentages of unsatisfied drivers are even higher at 74% and 61% respectively.

I’ve been doing this for a while so I’ve heard narratives like this from Uber before. And in the past, they failed to deliver. I have to give them some credit though, since 2016 was one of the first years in recent memory where they actually instituted some of the driver-friendly features we’ve been requesting for years (better late than never!). But for all the hype they’ve built with Jones’ hiring and this being the year of the rideshare driver, Uber is setting the bar pretty high.

I would love to see Uber deliver a better experience for drivers, but if they can’t even identify the top issues drivers are facing today, how can we expect Uber to fix them?

Drivers, what did you think about Jeff Jones’ letter? And what issues would you like to see Uber resolve in 2017? Leave a comment below or e-mail me at harry(at)therideshareguy.com.

-Harry @ RSG

Save

Burnt Out Talking To Passengers? Deliver Food With Caviar!

Make up to $25/hour. No minimum hours required, work outside, and get paid weekly. Click to Sign-up!

I'm Harry, the owner and founder of The Rideshare Guy Blog and Podcast. I used to be a full-time engineer but now I'm a rideshare blogger! I write about my experience driving for Uber, Lyft, and other services and my goal is to help drivers earn more money by working smarter, not harder.

This whole “year of the driver” spiel seems more than a little bit disingenuous coming from a company that is aggressively pushing toward a driver-less fleet. Clearly the financial incentive is to go autonomous as soon as possible. Eliminate the driver, and they keep the 75% of their revenues that they are paying drivers (noting of course that they then have the fleet cost, but I doubt it will be anywhere near 75% of revenues).

If you were hemorrhaging three quarters of the money your customers pay you, and you saw a way to drastically change that calculus by eliminating the driver from the equation, what would your priority be? The driver, or the autonomous fleet?

Yea I didn’t even want to get into that but that will probably be the next issue 🙂

ShariC

I just signed up a week or so ago and what I think needs to be added is a Driver Request form. If your “favourite” driver is working, they should be able to be pinged. I am one of a few (that I know of) drivers that have a Military ID (in my local area) too, so I am able to drive a person onto the military installation and straight to their door (or pick up from the dorms, etc). Other drivers either have to be signed on or the passenger has to find their way to the visitors center, which is a mile or more sometimes to be picked up/dropped off. Most people don’t want to vouch for a person they don’t know onto the military installation, as they then become your responsibility. So having something where the guys in the dorms who usually don’t have a vehicle or someone from base housing can request a driver with base access would be a great benefit!
Letting Riders know that a tip is not included in their fare would be nice too, even if they don’t have a way for them to tip via the app, so they know that if they want to tip they can. Most people don’t realize there is no tip added.

Yes that’d be awesome, and it’s one thing I ‘requested’: therideshareguy.com/9-features-id-like-to-see-uber-and-lyft-add-in-2017/

czervik

I agree with most of Rideshare Guy’s takes. However, features like “Driver Destination” isn’t available in all markets, like Cleveland for instance. Lyft has it, though, and it’s not limited to twice a day.

Fares are always the number one issue. After the fare decrease last year surges went way up at times of day that normally never saw surges. That was hundreds of drivers quitting. Now they’ve effectively eliminated the surge by flooding the city with new drivers. When there is a surge, riders have learned to wait 10 minutes and watch the surge disappear. If Uber would EXTEND the time of surges by 10 or 15 minutes more, many riders would not want to, or be able to, wait out the surge. The surge no longer attracts drivers because they know it’ll be gone when they get to it.

Definitely, putting tips in-app would be a big improvement. But even a clear policy between Uber and riders would help. For instance, riders think that the default tip that they initially set for UberTaxi in their app applies to all drivers. Uber doesn’t make it clear that most cities don’t even have UberTaxi and that it doesn’t apply to any other Uber driver class. Why not put a default tip amount for ALL Uber drivers?

Uber’s silly compliment feature doesn’t put food on the table. It just makes riders think we really don’t need a tip if we get a compliment.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Lyft is any better with the exception of the tip which normally isn’t given since most riders can’t even be bothered to check their app and rate us. If they don’t rate they certainly don’t tip.

Bottom line, I rarely have to communicate with Uber. When I have, my issues were promptly responded to. I care about compensation. The other silly stuff is a distant 5th.

Yea seems like his e-mail really skirted around the whole compensation thing.

Harleyfxdx1 Rider

1. Suggest they expand the geo-fenced area near airport so that drivers can circulate to locations nearby for food, beverages, restrooms, gasoline car wash etc. and not lose their position in the queue.
2. Build in an app feature that will allow a rider to request ahead, a specific driver for a pickup location and time, including airport pickups. This will allow drivers to build a following of repeat customers, which will be a positive for the driver, the rider and Uber.
3. Revise the rating system. 80% of my business travelers don’t bother to use the rating system unless something negative happens. So every non-rated ride should be considered a 5 star ride = no issues. In the same way that hole ratings seem to work. No regular travelers rate the hotel unless something exceptional happened be it good or bad.
4.Put the tip option on the app. Drivers provide a service … we are not an app. The passanger should have to option (not be required) to leave a tip for the driver. Uber is an app, and does not deserve ant kind of tip other than the commission they take from the driver.

Dave Sincere

I Am David sincere I’m driving in the Washington DC Metro where it which includes Virginia and Maryland. She’s I thought I was the only one that only had 20% of their Riders rate it’s not just the people passing through it’s all the people who used Uber bother to rate their drivers.

Yea there are a lot of features they could add that would really make driver’s lives easier, we touched on many of them here: therideshareguy.com/9-features-id-like-to-see-uber-and-lyft-add-in-2017/

Ivan K.

Don’t forget Uber Eat. Tipping for this service should be mandatory. That might teach people that we are not just their delivery slaves. So many times they don’t even say a Thank you. One simple word that makes all of Us humans….

Casey Jones

To pointedly answer your question: 1) TIPPING must be included on the app 2) INSURANCE affordability and availability. 3) CONDESCENDING responses and tone from “customer service.” I think it’s important to know that riders ask about how to tip on the app because they want to tip but don’t want the hassle of digging for a tip. Also of note, even Postmates integrates tipping. If they didn’t Postmates (drivers) couldn’t and wouldn’t drive for the service–it makes that much of a difference.

I think Uber hired a “AD” man or propaganda specialist, not someone that is really concerned about the driver. He may have been talking with drivers for the last 5 months, but maybe his motives may have been how to screw the driver more. In the Chicago area, the rider app no longer shows any Uber cars on the Android phone (still does on the Iphone). The ability to see where other drivers are and are not helps determine where to wait for the next trip.It was a tool I used to see how many and where other cars are around the casinos.

If he was really concerned about the drivers he would talk:

1. About tips
2. About Pool and paying the driver his fair share
3. About the unfair rating system
4. About “Up front pricing” and paying the driver his “fare” share
5. About canning the idea of cash payments
6. About better driver support and including a support number
7. About ways to reduce waiting times
8. About saturating a market with too many drivers
9. About increasing time and mileage charges
10. About adding a surcharge to trips where the pickup is more than 10 minutes or 5 miles away
11. About increasing the Pool cancel fee from $2.00 to $5.00 for all Pool riders
12. About adding a surcharge if the trip is not started after 5 minutes, because the driver was kept waiting
13. About intoxicated, rude, and roudy riders.
14. About believing the driver more than the riders and the idea that the “driver is guilty until proven innocent”
15. About multiple stop fees and multiple rider fees (like taxi cabs).
That is all I could think or for now, but I’m sure there are many more.
These are the subjects I think that need addressing. It is not that I’m a dissatisfied driver (I’m not), but there is a WHOLE LOT OF ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT!

Doesn’t seem like he’s trying to screw the drivers, just isn’t focused on the right issues imo.

thomasah

That was sort of a “knee jerk reaction”. The companies I’ve seen that have done something similar use the information they gather to benefit the company in the end.
I also got this email in error from the Independent Drivers Guild in New York:

Earlier today we
announced that we submitted a petition to the Taxi and Limousine
Commission that requires that the commissioners decide if you should get a
tipping option.

Make your voice count. On
Monday, February 20th, come
call fellow drivers to push the TLC to mandate a tipping option.

We’ll be meeting at two
times and locations to call your fellow drivers:

1PM
at the LaGuardia waiting lot

7PM
at the Black Car Safety Center at 38-38 Crescent Street

The IDG has power only
because driver-activists talk to other drivers. If we come together and
fight, we can win. Let
us know if you can come.

Independent Drivers Guild

Peter Heng

There is no way that Uber will allow tipping option in the App. No tipping is what attract (cheap) riders to use Uber. This is one of Uber’s marketing strengths. You got to admit it most people don’t want to tip. It’s funny, I had a lady come into my car. And before she came in her friend gave her cash for some reason. As the trip began the topic of tipping was discussed. She said why Uber don’t allow tipping option in the App. And she also commented that most people including her don’t usually carry cash. That I do understand. After I dropped her off at her destination she thanked me for the ride and left. I said to myself, you had cash with you why didn’t you bother to tip?

thomasah

I got this email today from the Independent drivers Guild in New York (my mistake). Maybe there is still hope of the app being changed:

Earlier today we announced that we submitted a petition to the Taxi and Limousine
Commission that requires that the commissioners decide if you should get a tipping option.

Make your voice count. On Monday, February 20th, come
call fellow drivers to push the TLC to mandate a tipping option.

We’ll be meeting at two times and locations to call your fellow drivers:

1PM at the LaGuardia waiting lot

7PM at the Black Car Safety Center at 38-38 Crescent Street

The IDG has power only because driver-activists talk to other drivers. If we come together and fight, we can win. Let us know if you can come.

Independent Drivers Guild

Tamera Noll

Hello Harry…Nice Article.

My thoughts..

*Support – PERSONALLY, i get VERY fast response..like 5 to 10 mins MAX. USUALLY the response is nice, respectful and handles the situation. However a few days back, I had a question regarding DELIVERY..I occasionally will get a delivery thrown in while I am doing rideshare. Well there is a “delivery” portion on the app that says “acceptance rate” Etc…Well despite my 3 Deliveries Nothing has shown up ON the delivery app (HOWEVER the $ was all there on driver app) So all I did is ask WHY LOL..well that turned into 5 different reps not answering the question, basically, so I just gave up and decided I didn’t care, since I am still getting paid. Other than that no issues with Support

*APP – Well I don’t have many issues there..HOWEVER, occasionally/rare a Trip will come in, (ONLY when I am just ending a trip or mid) and I tap it and it doesn’t take OR I get an error message THEN that somehow ends up being an “unaccepted ride” NOT! And..on occasion when doing a pool, trips have been ADDED WITHOUT the little icon showing up…and it SEEMS that it didn’t work, I only say this as at the end of the night I may have a 2 % cancellation ..when I never cancelled a ride. Anyway other than that no major issues.

*Tipping – Well….yep …a few PAX have said I wish I could tip you but I don’t have the cash, but I get tipped every week from a few here and there, as I assume most drivers do. From what I have heard Lyft drivers have said they rarely get tipped anyway. But it would SEEM that you would make more in tips with Lyft. I signed up and got approved but have yet to drive for them. Anyway YEAH I would LOVE the tip option.

*Uperpool – I am one who yeah it stings when you get a short $2 or $3 pool with just one rider..HOWEVER I have to say that for 3 Months my previous car died, I took pool everyday to work. My work was 11 mins drive from my apt , and Uber x was $6 to 8 a day one way. So..pool was a godsend 🙂 Most of the time I DO get 2 or 3 passengers at a time …and it works…So I am more of a fan than not a fan, obviously making more would be nice.

**For me…I LOVE what someone said about NO rating counting as a 5 star LOL…that would be awesome…I have been able to maintain a decent rating, but there’s always someone or something that will knock it down and that ONE person kills ya for a moment.
And in final..IF I could double or close to triple what I do with Uber I would consider leaving my desk job. But for now …it remains a 15 to 20 hr 2nd job. 🙂

Thanks and yea they are definitely fast with their response time via e-mail these days 🙂

john

When the day comes that driverless cars are a reality I’ll be fine with stepping aside just like elevator operators were no longer needed once elevators became fully automated. I could see small scale driverless cars taking short/simple routes in the fairly near future but I happen to think the day of widespread driverless cars is still pretty far away.

yamdigger

An elevator shaft is a highly controlled environment that’s easy to manage. The street has many and constantly changing variables.

john

A long time ago you needed an elevator operator to safely manage the manually operated elevator cars, as strange as that may sound now to someone who just gets in and pushes a button it was true. Its an example that when progress overcomes shortfalls then its time to adapt to the new realties of life. In that case it wasn’t really overwhelming technology needed but its an example of how we progress.
Cars have always needed competent drivers to get around safely for their sake and those of pedestrians. However, some day that will almost certainly no longer be a true statement but the real question is “when?”. Will it be 3 years from now, 8, 15, 25 …? I happen to think it still quite a ways away but when reality hits and its truly a safe venture then driverless cars will be fine with me but I’m not holding my breath.

yamdigger

It is far more easier for them to develop a pilotless jetliner than a car. The technology for it already exists…yet they haven’t done it and probably won’t. THE biggest obstacle isn’t the technology, it’s people in general trusting it. You might be OK with putting your life in the hands of a driverless car but most people won’t. Most people won’t even want those things cruising down their street much less get into one. While the world is heading towards global fascism, for now, we are still a democracy; and politicians WILL listen to voters who have concerns about DL cars. Driverless cars will also call for HUGE modifications in road infrastructure possibly costing hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars. No democratly elected politician will be in any hurry to sign that cheque.

john

Everything you are saying is spot on for today, next year, the year after… but some day it will no longer hold true. When will technology overtake the issues, concerns… Who knows for sure. I don’t worry about it because I know its not right around the corner but it’ll be real some day though I won’t be an early adopter lol. I’m sure people in 1850 would have laughed at the idea that there would be big flying contraptions that some day could transfer you from one continent to another.

No.bs

John, you’re just repeating yourself. The fact is, As long as people can drive on roads then we can never safely transition to autonomous. Its the same reason Google never went with the “partly autonomous” vehicle like Tesla did because they new the reaction time of a person is not even near what a machines is. The accident that killed the Tesla driver should have been a wake up call but of course greed trumps all. Yamdigger was right. There are too many changing variables (people being the biggest) for it to ever work. You’ll see.

john

Apparently you’re not reading what I’m stating so maybe that’s why I’m repeating lol. I don’t expect autonomous cars to be a reality for quite awhile but eventually technology takes hold as history has shown. I’m not holding my breath but it’ll eventually happen even though it’s not nearly as close as those who that would benefit from it would like it to be.

No.bs

History has also shown that man is gonna wipe itself out in the not to distant future anyway so I wouldn’t put to much thought into the whole autonomous thing. Just ask a Mayan the next time you see one what they think.

john

LOL, the “not too distant future” is a relative thing. To a living person it may be measured in a few years while to history itself 100,000 years is not too far in the distance.

Bryan Dominguez

Like jetpacks

OuToFPeZ

Get a card reader.. Square, Stripe or Google Pay. Boom! No more “I don’t have any cash for a tip” bs.

Tamera Noll

Funny, I will be getting one for some other side gigs 🙂 nice idea ..!

Amanda

I have one but have no idea how to use it! So it’s been sitting in my dresser drawer for about 2 years now, as that’s when I was given it.

Tamera Noll

Hey, which do you think is best? the idea of me taking my phone off the magnet mount putting in a card thing ..then swiping just seems like UGH a bit of work when your trying to drop people off etc….any thoughts?

Bob

Two major issues for me are first Ubers policy that riders ratings cannot be changed or deleted. Ok for bad service this is fine but to be rated a 1-2 star because of technical issues that we have no control over is pure b.s. I have had multiple trips where the app has frozen up and not allowed me to end the trip even after shutting off the phone and reopening the app. How is this my fault and why should my ratings suffer as a consequence? And dare I even bring up navigation issues such as sending in to dead end streets or incomplete addresses of pick up destinations. They way this should be handled is that any rating less than a 4 should require an explanation or comment by the rider and the driver being given the opportunity to respond.

czervik

My worst ratings came from riders who were stupid, high or both. One Lyft rider put as her 2nd destination a downtown location 15 miles away from her actual destination, back home. I was 2/3 of the way there before she finally noticed where I was (even though I announced where I was going before leaving point A). She dinged me good. Another Lyft rider took 25 minutes to find where I parked to pick her up from a Cavs game. My hint to her was find the 10-story tall LeBron James picture and I’m parked right next to it. After 25 minutes on the phone trying to get her to tell me where she was, flashing my lights, jumping up and down and pointing out that enormous sign numerous times she found me. Dinged me pretty good.

I was a 4.9 before each of these intellectual giants. Got it back, though it took about a month. I gave each of these women a “1-star” myself knowing that they were going to hit me. If Lyft (or Uber) cared they review the situation based on the simultaneous bad ratings and at least erase the bad driver rating (leaving the bad rider rating because I certainly don’t want to drive these two again).

There seems to be no repercussion for bad riders except maybe getting passed over if a driver takes any note of their poor overall rating. I personally wont drive anyone below 4.6.

john

I will drive anyone with any rating. At the same time I pay almost ZERO attention to what my rating is and it all works out in the end. Afte4r all, why should I care whether its 4.83, 4.88, 4.93 … as long as its safely over the lower limit. I instead just concentrate on what really matters, making sure I give a proper ride and let ratings fall where they may.

I find it to be VERY freeing not to worry about ratings in either direction!!

Gene Chamson

Great post, Harry, and I appreciate you keeping Uber honest by reflecting actual driver opinions… which are often different than what Uber claims they are!

I agree with you that earnings, tipping, and Uberpool are three important topics that drivers feel strongly about and that Uber probably doesn’t want to discuss.

I think the goal of this “year of the driver” is for the company to do just enough to reduce its churn rate and increase the number of rides they get per driver, at least until they can replace drivers completely.

The fundamental problem is that drivers are being underpaid for what they are asked to do. And that is the engine that drives the predatory pricing that is disrupting the industry. The Uber model is literally built on the assumption of underpaying drivers… which they can continue to do as long as lots of people need a flexible way to earn some extra income from cars they have already paid for.

So if your company is built on an exploitative model, there is only so much you can do to improve things for the people you need to exploit. And the last 3 years have shown us that the future for Uber drivers will involve working harder for lower earnings. Anything else is just a distraction.

Gaspar

Jeff Jones
President of Gaslighting

You must really, really, really think that drivers are just dumb and illiterate to buy the text in emails you send. Surely, you yourself don’t believe half of the words in it.

There is only 1 issue on the table, and of course you choose to dance around it. Actually, there are three. I list them here, in sequence of importance. You see…I really, really mean what I write.

1. Raise the Fares to 2008 level. I give you a free sage advice, you take the credit for it and it goes like this:

A. Passengers will still call. They are junkies now. It was proven in 2008. Fares were higher than taxis then…and the demand broke the app. They are going no where.

B. You’ll stop the cash burning bleeding, may even achieve or scratch the break-even stage.

2. Tips. What the #@[email protected]* do you care – if people Tip ? Hello. I’m sure you tip your starbucks barista. I know for sure that you tip your barman ? Don’t you ?

3. Passengers with ratings less than 4.5 – delete them. This simple, yet symbolic gesture will score you points with the drivers. As you well know, drivers have been deactivated whimsically for a lot less or have received the ‘end of the world’ email saying that they may be unplugged.

Remember Jeff, that the marketplace created is up for the taking. No entity owns the ride space. No one. To illustrate the obvious, another well funded player is coming to your door this year. One that

has , shall we say….a whole lot more credibility on both sides of the aisle.

And if you think that the drive-less cars is your ace in the deck. Think again, car manufacturers will run with that ball, they don’t want to lose their car rental business (hertz, etc) it will be led by the car makers bubba. Not by apps. Actually Google cars are way ahead of all of them. Of course, Google is not your friend anymore. Don’t want to be redundant…but no entity owns the ride marketplace.

Have a nice day

Matt Wernecke

Aother great article Harry!
I’m making more money each week, as my efficiency, gets better.
Thanks for your help!
UberPool is half my business here in the ATL.
I net 3.75, with both uberx and pool, if, just go a few blocks, but the pay difference between the 2 is significant at longer distances.
Besides the pay out difference, Ubur Pool riders tend to be bad riders; inconsiderate of my time, and poor raters.
Uber pool riders tend to be a major headache for me; they wear me out; I’m not a babysitter.
The lack of a tip option baffles me.
I get compliants from riders that want to tip me, but can’t, because they dont have cash.
Travis is being obstinate, because he lacks leadership ability.
Matt

yamdigger

When I read Jeff’s letter, my first reaction was was: “move along folks, there’s nothing here to see.”

No.bs

I think it’s hilarious that I just saw an article titled “should drivers stop referring drivers”. That little revelation should have popped up in your head a long long time ago. Why would anyone increase there own competition? Now we have 40 drivers to every 1 rider. But hey, you got 150 bucks out of the deal! How is that working out for ya?

Uber can get drivers from lots of sources, if drivers stopped referring other drivers they could easily shift that money into other channels.

No.bs

If that’s the case Harry, then let them. Drivers should stop doing Ubers recruiting and adding to their own competition. If every driver referred one new driver our saturated driver market would double. That 500 bucks is nothing compared to the hundreds you would loose in just a couple months. And I doubt Uber has it that easy. They need recruiters. There are a lot more people who don’t want to rideshare then do. They know we make peanuts. They don’t want drunks and idiots in there car. They aren’t driving legally. They can’t speak English (oh wait, that one is ok), etc. Like with everything else in life, The driver pool is not bottomless and Uber knows that.

No.bs

Even uber marketing is designed to screw over drivers. Riders get this subliminal impression in their head that the vehicle is ubers just by the way that marketing refers to it. “Lets take an uber”, “just grab an uber”, etc. when really it should be “Let uber help you find a ride with someone”. Or “hitchhike with your phone”. Because really, isn’t that what it really is? Believe me, people act a whole lot different and stop treating drivers like they are cab drivers when they are reminded that they are riding in someones car. NOT an uber car and that the driver doesn’t work for a cab company and can end the ride just as quickly as it started if he has too. Drivers have a lot more power then they realize. Thats why uber makes communication between one another very difficult. The ONLY thing that is going to change the way drivers are treated is if ubers bottom line, bottomed out. If every single driver in the world stopped on the same day it would devestate ubers books and show uber that drivers now had the power and the future of the business in their (drivers) hands. Until that day comes, drivers better just get used to the bottom of ubers shoe because that is where they’re staying.

JAMES

Harry
They advertize Uber Eats here in Baltimore Md but I have downloaded the app and looked to see what
restaurants are listed and none are listed my friend owns a restaurant and signed up like four weeks ago and still has not heard from them at all I wrote to them and all I get is they will contact him but they keep advertising it here in Baltimore can you find out what the heck is going on? I am driver for them now a year and six months Thanks Jim

OuToFPeZ

Harry,
Get a free card reader from Stripe, Square, or Google Pay, and boom! No more “I’d tip you but I don’t carry any cash” excuses.

I use a $79 tablet, velcro’d to my center console, ready for quick service, with Square always running, which is way faster than hunting for an app on your phone.
Plus it gives them a bigger screen to sign their name.

Square also gives you window stickers to let customers know that you can accept plastic.

Amanda

When I first signed up (I’m in the Chicagoland area) Uber said they only take out 20% but they really take 25% and I’m the bare bottom with Uber X, Uber Pool and recently added Uber Eats.

I’ve had riders who want to tip me but either don’t have the money or only have big bills and I don’t have change so they ask if there’s a way to tip thru the app. I wish there was cause just like cab drivers, restaurants, or anywhere else people usually tip, tips may not be required but it sure does help.
So Uber should take however many times it has written “tipping not required” out and just let the rider decide for themselves if they wish to tip and also, like many other apps have, have an option to tip along with the ratings/comments option that there already is. And if a rider chooses to tip it won’t be akkward as they won’t be leaving it till after they are out of the car anyways (unless they choose to tip using cash).

In addition Uber doesn’t seem to follow their own rules with cancelation fees and I’ve been denied when I should have gotten it. Or a rider who lied and when I brought it up in details and with what proof I had using Ubers own app, they just repeated what they wrote the first time instead of actually listening/reading what I wrote.
Yet Uber took out their fees but denied me mine!!??
So the cancelation system should be changed completely. I think if a rider cancels after you already accepted and it’s been more than 1 minute (which gives them enough time if they made a mistake) the driver should get paid still. Because the way Uber has it now they don’t take into consideration how close a driver may already be to the pickup location when they accepted the rider or even things that can’t be controlled such as traffic (especially rush hour or Ohare which is always busy), one way streets or even accidents.

I’ve also had too many problems with the app freezing up on me and even though I accepted the riders it cancels out on me and brings my trips accepted percentage down!!
And yes I’m constantly updating the dam app too!

All this effing pisses me off and is not fair to me or anyone else who has these problems.
For some it’s an additional job and for others, like myself, it’s the only job.
Drivers should be treated just as fairly as the riders are in every way and have just as many options available to us as the riders have, for example the ratings/comments/etc section where drivers should be able to choose to leave one instead of having no choice but to leave one before any more riders can be accepted.

I just stared 2 months ago and am already having to many negative issues. The sad part is I kept saying to people how this is my favorite job I’ve ever had and even kept trying to get others to sign up as a driver.

About

I'm Harry, the owner and founder of The Rideshare Guy Blog and Podcast. I used to be a full-time engineer but now I'm a rideshare blogger! I write about my experience driving for Uber, Lyft, and other services and my goal is to help drivers earn more money by working smarter, not harder. Read More…

Join our e-mail list today and we'll send you a free PDF copy of The Ultimate Guide To Being A Rideshare Driver!

Blogroll

FTC Disclosure

Please note that The Rideshare Guy has financial relationships with some of the merchants mentioned here. The Rideshare Guy may be compensated if consumers choose to utilize the links located throughout the content on this site and generate sales for the said merchant.